Introduction
In this chapter I discuss my role as a researcher, the purpose of the study, and repeat my research question. Next, I discuss my data collection methods; a critical race theory approach to counter-narrative storytelling; semi-structured interviews; coding process of grounded theory; and the informed consent procedures. Finally, I discuss the background of the mentoring program at the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church; my selection of interview participants; my semi- structured interview questions; my communication and reporting, and my context.
Researcher Positionality
My role as an urban African American minister at the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church and a member of the Core (Advisory) Committee of the Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center’s mentoring program, connects me to the African American male students and the spiritual change we’re seeking. While other methodological discourses are what we call “detached observers,” it is critical to point out I’m organically and spiritually involved in this work from the ground up. There is no detachment between me and the research participants, because of my role as
minister/mentor in their lives.
Subsequently, in critical race studies, there is no separation between researchers of color and the subjects (rather than objects) to which they are studying. Therefore, I have come to this research project as a minister, concerned with the plight and predicament of African American male youth; and the role of spirituality’s impact on their ability to be college prepared.
Historically, the African American church was at one point, the major institution by which social, political, economic, and spiritual needs were cultivated. Given the challenges African
American males face, it still remains one of the most important social, civic, spiritual, and educational institutions in African American life. Subsequently, the nature of the questions I raise in this dissertation is not separate from my own motivation as a minister, seeking my church’s role as a spiritual impetus for the transformation of their educational future.
H. Richard Milner IV (2007) argues that a researcher should be racially and culturally aware of themselves and others while doing educational research (2007, p. 388). “The premise of the argument is that dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen can emerge for researchers when they do not pay careful attention to their own and others’ racialized and cultural systems of coming to know, knowing and experiencing the world” (Milner, 2007, p. 388). Milner suggests that a student’s learning may be impeded when the teacher ignores both the race and culture of the student and themselves. Milner concludes “that matters of race and culture are important considerations in the process of conducting research” (Milner, 2007, p. 397). Milner is insisting that the researcher consider race and culture while doing educational research in order to more realistically serve all students.
Researchers of color position themselves in their research according to who they are and the experiences they have had. Gloria Ladson-Billings said, “In my own research I have
attempted to tell a story about myself as well as about my work” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p. 416). I’m validated by including myself in my research, according to Ladson-Billings.
Similarly, Tillman (2002) argues “that there is a need to consider research frameworks that can help researchers to more fully capture the experiences of African Americans-their struggles as well as their success” (Tillman, 2002, p. 3). The danger in including myself in my research is that I might inaccurately interpret the experiences of the African American male participants. “It
and validate the experiences of African Americans within the context of the phenomenon under study” (Tillman, 2002, p. 4). Researchers of color bring their identity and experiences into their research, which impacts how data is interpreted within a social justice context.
Purpose of the Study
The compelling reason for this study is that every student in the Pittsburgh Public
Schools upon graduation are guaranteed a scholarship for four years to any college, university, or trade school in the state of Pennsylvania if the student maintains at least a 2.5 grade point
average, and attends school 90 percent of the time. However, African American males are among the students who are receiving the least number of Pittsburgh Promise scholarships. According to the Pittsburgh Promise, 816 African African/Multiracial males have received Promise scholarships compared to 1,348 Caucasian males since 2008 (Pittsburgh Promise website, 2015). In addition, African American males at the Tyler Academy are seldom academically eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship, nor do they attend school 90 percent of the time. Tyler Academy in 2015 had only 20 percent of its students eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise Scholarship (Nuttall, 2015).
The purpose of this study is to determine how the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church can help empower the African American 9th through 12th grade male students at the Tyler Academy, Mason High School, and the Remington Catholic High School to succeed academically. All school names are pseudonyms to protect the anonymity of the students. This study would like to push forward an agenda that seeks to understand the larger role Black churches can have in assisting African American males to become college-ready. Barrett (2010) argues that the Black church can ensure that Black students are valued as good students and talented human beings who can be productive citizens.
Previous studies have shown that religion plays a role in promoting academic success for Black students. For example, the Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of American Youth in 2008 Study, revealed:
Black students who participated in more religious activities and who had stronger religious convictions were more likely to report higher grades in school, had a positive self-concept, positive feelings about school, parents involved with their education, and fewer disciplinary referrals. (Toldson & Anderson, 2010, p. 205)
Black churches provide a community where Black males’ self-esteem is elevated, yet some Black urban churches don’t cultivate a relationship with them.
Toldson & Anderson noted that Al-Fadhli and Kersen (2010) made several suggestions to the Black church and community to use the “power of religious faith to improve academic
outcomes among Black students” (Toldson & Anderson, 2010, p. 212). They suggested that the Black church monitor the student’s grades on a regular basis, and acknowledge their success in front of the congregation. They also suggested that the Black church could also serve as mediators between students and schools when they have been suspended. Black churches can help teach parents the importance of education and how to share that importance with their children. Additionally, Black churches can help parents with their children’s homework.
Al-Fadhli and Kersen (2010) concluded that religious, social, and cultural capital influence educational aspirations of African American 8th and 10th graders. They worked with secondary data from The Monitoring the Future Study (2008) from a sample of 4,273 African American students, females (50.6%) and males (49.1%) (Al-Fadhli & Kersen, 2010, p. 383). “It
is expected that students with high levels of family and religious social capital are more likely to have high educational aspirations” (Al-Fadhli & Kersen, 2010, p. 386).
The African American male students will gain their voices by telling their educational journey stories during a semi-structured interview. The African American male educational story has been told by many, but seldom by them. This research study will give the students an opportunity to voice their concerns for how the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church can empower them to excel academically and graduate ready for college.
This research study will build on the findings from Al-Fadhli and Kersen, 2010, concerning the suggestions that were made to the African American church. One African
American urban church will be examined to determine what additional steps can be taken to help African American urban high school males become college-ready.
Research Question
The overarching research question for this study is: How are 9th through 12th grade African American male students making sense of the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church’s mentoring program to improve their college readiness? I will gain the insight from the African American male students on how the church has helped prepare them for college through our informal conversations.
Data Collection Methods Introduction
In this section I discussmy data collection methods through a grounded theory approach to counter-narratives of youth. Secondly, I discuss a critical race theory approach to counter- narrative storytelling, semi-structured interviews, and the coding process of grounded theory.
Data Collection Methods – A Grounded Theory Approach to Counter- Narratives of Youth
Grounded theory is the qualitative method by which I will analyze counter-narratives of Black male youth through semi-structured interviews with five youth from the Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center’s Mentoring Program. The purpose of grounded theory is to develop an emerging theory from participants’ interview data. That is, through the process of coding participant responses through themes/categories of my analysis, data from youth will be helpful in Mt. Ararat’s ongoing strategies in promoting college-readiness for Black male youth in its mentoring program. Kathy Charmaz suggest constructivist grounded theory:
Recognizes that the categories, concepts, and theoretical level of an analysis emerges from the researcher’s inter-actions within the field and questions about the data. In short, the narrowing of research questions, the creation of concepts and categories, and the integration of the constructed theoretical framework reflect what and how the researcher thinks and does about shaping and collecting the data (Charmaz, 2003, p. 271)
Grounded theory “allow for varied fundamental assumptions, data gathering approaches, analytic emphases, and theoretical levels” (Charmaz, 2003, p. 252). The researcher is more flexible when using grounded theory. “Grounded theory offers a set of flexible strategies, not rigid prescriptions” (Charmaz, 2003, p. 256). This means grounded theory can be applied to critical race discourses in its approach to methods of data collection.
A Critical Race Theory Approach to Counter-Narrative Storytelling
education. However, she cautions us that it’s too early to tell. “It requires a critique of some of the civil rights era’s most cherished legal victories and educational reform movements, such as multiculturalism” (Ladson-Billings, 1998, p. 7). In addition, Ladson-Billings highlights the fact that race still matters as Cornel West pointed out in 1992. She concludes, “If we are serious about solving these problems in schools and classrooms, we have to be serious about intense study and careful rethinking of race and education” (Ladson-Billings, 1998, p. 22).
Solorzano and Yosso (2002) argue that counter-storytelling can be used as an analytical framework for education research in critical race methodology. “A critical race methodology provides a tool to “counter” deficit storytelling” (Solorzano & Yosso (2002), p. 23). Critical race methodology allows people of color to tell their stories. “We define critical race
methodology as a theoretically grounded approach to research that foregrounds race and racism in all aspects of the research project” (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 24). The definition of racism has three parts:
(a) One group deems itself superior to all others, (b) the group that is superior has the power to carry out the racist behavior, and (c) racism benefits the superior group while negatively affecting other racial/or ethnic groups. (Solorzanao & Yossi, 2002, p. 24)
The theoretical foundation for critical race methodology is critical race theory. “Critical race theory draws from and extends a broad literature base in law, sociology, history, ethnic studies, and women’s studies” (Solorzano & Yossi, 2002, p. 25). Critical race theory is
committed to social justice by addressing race, gender, and class oppression (Solorzano & Yossi, 2002). “A critical race methodology in education challenges White privilege, rejects notions of
“neutral” research or “objective” researchers, and exposes deficit-informed research that silences and distorts epistemologies of color (Delgado Bernal, 1998)” (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 26).
Racism and White privilege play a role in storytelling in our educational system. “It is within the context of racism that “monovocal” stories about the low educational achievement and attainment of students of color are told” (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 27). These stories are being told through the lens of White privilege. “Whiteness is a category of privilege” (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 27). Delgado and Stefancic (1997) defined “White privilege as a system of opportunities and benefits conferred upon people simply because they are White” (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 27). These racial stories are called majoritarian stories.
Majoritarian stories can also be told by people of color. For example, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a Black man, writes against the civil rights of people and women of color (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). “Whether told by people of color or Whites, majoritarian stories are not often questioned because people do not see themas stories but as “natural” parts of everyday life” (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 28). For example, majoritarian stories tell us bad neighborhoods and bad schools go together, as do dark skin and poverty in our country
(Solorzano & Yosso, 2002). However, counter-stories allow people of color to tell their stories. Counter-stories are used by people of color to challenge the majoritarian stories.
“Counter-stories can shatter complacency, challenge the dominant discourse on race, and further the struggle for racial reform” (Solorzano & Yosso, 2002, p. 32). African Americans have traditionally told and shared their stories with their communities. Critical race scholars have three types of counter-narratives and/or stories: personal stories or narratives, other people’s stories or narratives, and composite stories or narratives.
This research study will examine the personal counter-stories or narratives of five of the 9th through 12th grade African American male students at the Tyler Academy, Mason High School, and the Remington Catholic High School. In this research study five of the 9th through 12th grade African American male students who have participated in the Middle School
Mentoring program at the Mt. Ararat Community Activity Center told their counter-narrative stories.
Semi-Structured Interviews
The five African American 9th through 12th grade male students from the Tyler Academy, Mason High School, and Remington Catholic High School were asked to participate in
individual semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interview (SSI) is a research method used to discover information about a certain experience from the participants. “The semi- structured interview maintains a conversational style in which the interviewer probes the
respondent and is free to ask questions in a different order for all respondents” (McDougal, 2014, pp. 264-265). SSIs use open-ended questions to allow the participants to provide more complete answers. “The purpose of SSIs is to ascertain participants’ perspectives regarding an experience pertaining to the research topic” (McIntosh & Morse, 2015, p. 1). I used SSIs to provide a relaxed atmosphere that allowed the African American male students to completely answer my questions.
I prepareda set of questions prior to the SSIs, but I wasn’t restricted to only those questions. “Although a semi-structured interview involves a standard set of questions, it also allows for interviewers to ask sub-questions and develop new questions based on interviewees’ responses” (McDougal, 2014, p. 265).
The venue for the SSIs will be the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church. I reserved a room prior to the actual day of the SSIs. The venue for the SSIs is important. “Participants must feel
comfortable and relaxed enough to really tell the researcher ‘how it is’” (Dearnley, 2005, p. 26). The SSIs will last from 30 to 45 minutes. I audiotaped the SSIs with the permission of the students, and their parents/guardians. I also transcribed the interviews. “A one-hour interview may take five hours to type verbatim, and will amount to 20-25 single-spaced pages” (Dearnley, 2005, p. 27). (See Consent Forms in Appendices B & C, pp. 106-113)
In addition to tape recording the SSIs it’s important for me to take notes prior to the start of the SSIs during the SSIs, and after the SSIs. “It has been suggested that the interviewer writes down his or her thoughts and feelings before, during and after the interview (Chesney 2000) and that the use of a reflective diary (Clarke 2006) can be beneficial” (Whiting, 2008, p. 37).
However, I didn’t write any notes during the SSIs, so as not to cause any discomfort of the participants. Carpenter (1999) noted that time should be allowed after the SSIs to allow any participant the opportunity to express any discomfort they may have (Whiting, 2008). “The credibility of the research resides in part in the skill and competence of the researcher (Angen 2000)” (Tuckett, 2005, p. 3).
An interviewer must strive to maintain the quality of the interview. “The quality of the interview can be maintained by paying careful attention to the following three principles: maintain the flow of interviewee’s story; maintaining a positive relationship with the interviewee; and avoiding interviewer bias” (Qu & Dumay, 2011, p. 248). I used several
questions to clarify what I heard the students say, and I tried not to inject my opinions during our conversations.
Coding Process of Grounded Theory
Qualitative data may be analyzed through coding. “Coding, or thematic analysis, involves translating or reducing data into categories based on patterns or themes” (McDougal, 2014, p. 275). Thomas, Manusov, Wang, and Livingston (2011) used coding to analyze their data when using semi-structured interviews to determine why Black males where successful in being admitted to and graduating from medical school (McDougal, 2014). I’m using semi- structured interviews as a method of data collection, utilized in grounded theory, and it is the overarching method to interpret and analyze counter-narratives (CRT) of Black male youth.
Charmaz (2003) observes that coding in grounded theory may take us in surprising directions. “Unlike quantitative research that requires data to fit into preconceived standardized codes, the researcher’s interpretations of data shape his or her emergent codes in grounded theory” (Charmaz, 2003, p. 258). “Ryan and Bernard (2003) identify several things for researchers to look for when they are searching for themes: repetition, indigenous typologies, metaphor and analogies, similarities and differences, linguistic connections, missing data, and theoretical material” (McDougal, 2014, p. 276). I used this method when coding the information from my semi-structured interviews.
Critical race epistemology uncovers or centers marginalized voices of color as a means to transform Mt. Ararat’s pre-college preparation of African American male students. I politically insert myself as an African American researcher, along with the selection of my respondents (African American male youth), to center unheard voices of color in their interpretations of Mt. Ararat’s mentoring program as a spiritual institution promoting academic success of
Informed Consent Procedures
The five African American 9th through 12th grade students and their parents/guardians were asked to complete the Child Assent Form, and the Parent Permission Form. Each were advised that this study was being performed as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Educational Doctorate degree in the Educational Leadership Program, Department of
Educational Foundations and Leadership, School of Education, Duquesne University. The parents’ sons were asked to participate in a semi-structured interview (SSI). The semi-structured interview is a research method used to discover information about a certain experience from the participants. I asked seven questions of the participants to determine what effect the Mt. Ararat mentoring program has played in preparing them to be college-ready. This was the only request that was asked of them. There was no compensation (money) for participation in this study.